Hong Kong Trip 1

I'm sick.  :(  But still blogging :P

It could be post holiday depression but its most likely a cold caught from our return flight from Singapore - there was a girl who was coughing and sniffing near us.  My wife has is it too, so were a pair of sick birds lolz

Its really unpleasant being sick during summer with the hot weather and having runny nose. Yuckers!

But enough of that - pictures time!

Our Hong Kong holiday started with a quick stop-over in Singapore.  We only had a few hours, but enough time to check out the new Marina Bay Sands hotel.  The hotel boasts a skypark at the top and a casino and shopping centre underneath.

I thought its quite interesting that they charge the locals S$200 to gamble but its free for tourist.  The hotel is alright, but I got a feeling they rushed the construction or they went cheapish with the materials because it just didn't have that glamorous feel about it.  Bits were falling off and the toilet I went to the flush wasn't working.

We didn't get to check out the sky park which was available only to guests staying in the hotel (or pay S$20).

After the quick stop over, we were off flying to the concrete jungle that is Hong Kong! *insert gong sound*

 Trams now accept the octopus card! Sweet.

Hong Kong is awesome for sightseeing

 Red panda

 Fat panda.

Shopping

 The winter sales meant I could actually afford stuff!

and of course, EATING!!! :P

 We love the desserts at Honeymoon Desserts.  Best place ever.  I think we visited a Honeymoon dessert outlet almost daily.

 Xialongbaos - these dumplings have surprise soup inside!!

Note - I would fly back to Hong Kong just for these baked BBQ pork buns.  They are so good!  If you don't believe me?  Google Tim Ho Wun.  These are Michelin star buns!!

Thats enough for now - more to come soon!!

Gift Registry

Anh and I had our first wedding gift registry experience!

We went around Myers and scanning items we hope to get as wedding presents.

We didn't do so well on our first run though.  I think we were scanner-shy.  We only scanned twenty five items.

And most of these so that we get the freebies!! hehhehehe.

Stuff you get for free if you scan certain brands

But we're warmed up now!
So watch out scanner - we're heading to the electronics department next.

The blob

3Willings
1) Red Alert 3
2) Beck
3) Kings of Leon

After giving my girlfriend an earful last night for splurging on Sex and the City box set, I went ahead and bought games for myself.

I'm such a hypocrite.

I was going on about self control and instant gratifications (retail therapy). Good things are worth waiting for I said.

Then the first thing I do in the morning is go on an online shopping spree.

*warning - do not look up "Sex in the City" at work.. that's kinda like looking up porn. Its "Sex AND the City"


My self control is such a temperamental thing.

One day I'm like a samurai, able to withstand temptation and have utmost control of myself. Exercising, studying, working, saving up money.

Concentration is as sharp as a razor blade.


Then something happens and I turn in a blob.

A blob is kinda like an evil twin, only a lot more disgusting.
A blob who doesn't exercise. A blob who doesn't eat right or sleep right. I turn to someone who suddenly only care about whats happening in the next two hours.

Then after being a blob for a while, I cross a barrier.



A threshold for which I say "Damn Will! Look at yourself! What are you doing? This is not you!"

Then its back to samurai mode.

It's such an exhausting cycle.

Swap Marting

3Willings
1) Shun Fung by the River
2) Gears of War
3) Ne-yo - So You Can Cry

A few weeks back my girlfriend and I decided to sell our old stuff in a swap mart (aka trash or treasure).

Nothing like a good spring-clean to make space for new things :P

It was really hard work because we had to gather all the stuff we wanted sold and then cram it into the car.

The most difficult part was waking up 5AM to claim a spot. Getting a spot is so intensely competitive, some of the sellers camp overnight!

Its crazy.

Thankfully we had McMuffins to lift our spirits.

It was a long day of dealing with all sorts of people . But thankfully we sold most of our stuff.

Our swap mart bay

Of course we were practically giving stuff away. We sold a PC, monitor, mouse, keyboard all for $2. We also sold a working 68cm Sony television for $15!

Actually, we gave a lot of stuff away!

We gave toys to kids and we donated a chunk of our profit back to Rotary.

The whole experience made me realise how far me and my family have come. We use to be the ones roaming the swap mart looking for bargains. It was such a great feeling finding the item you needed at a great price.

To the man who bought my Playstation 2. May it bring you hours and hours of happiness the way it brought me hours and hours of happiness..

..and eye bags.

Wonderous Ebay

You know what's the scariest thing about driving at night?
A GPS unit dropping from the windscreen and scaring the bejesus out of you.

There I was driving in some unknown suburb, the streets were pitch black. The soft glow of the GPS providing a false sense of security that I wont get lost. Then..

BAAAAM!!

The GPS falls on the dash and rolls unto the floor.

I'll confess that my undies weren't completely dry after that.

The cold dry night meant the GPS suction thing didn't properly stick to the glass.

Now my GPS has been dropped so many times. I'm beginning to worry that my warranty will get void.

So I decided I was gonna MacGyver my way into making a car vent holder for my GPS.

I was going to steal the vent clips from a pair air-fresheners join it together with 2mm aluminium wires then moulded a clip using baking dough from the craft shop. I would test the moulding with the GPS then finalise the moulding by baking at 400C for half an hour. I'll finish the job with an ash-grey lacquer spray.

That was plan A. Plan B was ebay.

Should be here next week. :)

And I definitely sympathise for those who are addicted to ebay. Bargains galore and the excitement of waiting for something in the post (actually, 90% of the fun is waiting for the stuff to arrive in the mail).

One of my recent of purchases was a pair of William Rast jeans.

To those initiated, William Rast is the designer label of Mr SexyBackWhatGoesAroundComesAroundLovestoned.

His Perth concert is just around the corner so I was thinking of the ways to get into his pants.

(That doesn't sound right).

But anyways. Now all I need is a "Justin! I'll have your babies!" shirt.

Maybe there's one in ebay.

The Tale of the Two Shoppers

Shopper One

C is what I call an ultra power shopper.

The type that will go to a department store and try and bargain 50 cents off the $2.00 Timtam sale. She will make every last cent count when she shops.

I mean its good that she's trying to save. But sometimes, she gets so caught up in trying to save, her honesty becomes.... questionable.

C bought a lamp from Target. She put on a desk at her house and was pleased with it. Unfortunately, for some clumsy reason, the lamp ended on the floor shattered to pieces.

C took the broken lamp and her receipt and returned it to Target. The reason was 'It was broken when I got home'.

Its okay to do this she says.

'Big department stores set a budget for these kinds of things - so really, no one gets hurt'.


Shopper Two

I was packing the grocery into the car. M was looking through the shopping receipt. He looked confused.

"They forgot to include the rug."
"Thats good then! Free rug! :P "
"No... They forgot to charge us for the rug.. I have to go back.."
"What?!! Why are you going back?! It was their mistake - so you get a free rug for their mistake!"
"But its not honest.."
"What?! Its like Mcdonalds - if you get free nuggets - you get free nuggets. You don't return free nuggets!"
"I'm going back... its not right.."
"??!!!"
"Will... the money you take away from these stores they get back by jacking up prices. I'm going back to pay for the rug."

The other extreme. Super honest citizen.

Anyways, the department store appreciated M's honesty, but corrected him that we've paid for the rug already.

It was just called "Sale item #453" rather than rug.